Techs and banks prompt stocks to fly with Santa

By IBT Staff Reporter12/21/07 AT 7:43 PM

U.S. stocks jumped the most in three weeks on Friday, as strong results from the company behind the BlackBerry boosted technology shares while financials rose on a report that another U.S. brokerage may get a big foreign investment.

All three major indexes rose more than 1.5 percent, a lift that took them into positive territory for the week.

Investors were also heartened by a government report that showed U.S. personal spending jumped more than expected in November, suggesting consumers have not been discouraged by signs of a slowdown in the economy.

Bank stocks surged after the Wall Street Journal reported Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may get up to $5 billion in a capital infusion from Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings. In the third quarter, Merrill had to write down $8.4 billion on assets tied to risky subprime mortgages.

Adding to the buoyant mood, several brokerages lifted their ratings or price targets on shares of Research in Motion after the BlackBerry wireless device maker reported earnings that topped forecasts after Thursday's closing bell.

Technology is a sector that has earnings momentum behind it with good exposure to the foreign markets, said Craig Hester, CEO of Hester Capital Management in Austin, Texas.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers index of consumer sentiment showed consumers' mood improved slightly in late December, but it still soured for the month as a whole.

Stock market volume was strong. Friday is the last major trading day before year-end holidays and also marked the expiration of equity derivatives contracts in the quarterly event known as quadruple witching.

About 2.34 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, flying past last year's estimated daily average of 1.84 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 2.56 billion shares traded, also topping last year's daily average of 2.02 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by a ratio of about 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.